Point-of-care cardiac testing improves patient care at Blackpool Victoria Hospital

The A&E Department at Blackpool Victoria Hospital is taking advantage of the point-of-care immunoassay capabilities of Radiometer's AQT90 FLEX analyser to assess patients with low risk chest pain, helping to speed up diagnosis and reduce the need for unnecessary admissions.

Radiometer's expertise in point-of-care testing ensures that the compact AQT90 FLEX provides cost-effective immunoassay analysis of critical biomarkers at the patient's bedside. The Blackpool Victoria Hospital team are using the AQT90 FLEX to test for a panel of cardiac markers - Troponin I, CKMB and Myoglobin- as part of its cardiac assessment strategy. Sister Sharon Ellis explained: "We are a busy Accident and Emergency department, and routinely see a wide variety of patients, many with chest pain. As the Trust houses the Regional Cardiac Centre we are well equipped to deal with MIs and other cardiac emergencies however, for low risk cases (with a TIMI score below 2), patients have historically had to wait until 12 hours after the onset of pain for a blood test to rule out a cardiac event. Despite a majority of these cases yielding negative results, this delay had significant implications for the Trust, often requiring an unnecessary admission for the patient. Being able to rule out a cardiac event improves the patient's journey and outcome."

"Introduction of the AQT90 FLEX has helped to improve this process significantly, allowing the first test to be performed 60 minutes after the onset of pain, and a follow up test 90 minutes later for confirmation. This rapid turnaround not only reduces the strain on resources, it also offers reassurance to patients by ruling out a cardiac condition more quickly."

To find out more about the AQT90 FLEX, please contact sales@radiometer.co.uk or visit
http://aqt90flex.radiometer.com